Drive-chain.



W. J. BELGHBR.

DRIVE CHAIN.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 16, 1909.

Patented May 24, 1910.

I INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYJ',

to illustrate the UNITED STATES PAEENT OFFICE.

wanna J. BELCHEB, or naa'rronn,

COI T-NECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE WHITNEY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OFHARTFORD; CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF Patented May 24, 1910.

ONNECTICUT. muvE-cnam.

959,047. I Spedifloltion of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 16, 1909. Serial No. 533,423.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WARREN J. BnLoIrnR, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented new and useful Im rovements in Drive- Chains,of which the ollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to drive-chains of that type in which one of thelink elements consists of oppositely disposed side-plates andnon-rotatable pivot pins extending through the side-plates near the endsthereof, the other link element consisting of oppositelydisposedside-plates like the first but having bushings extendin through theplates near the ends thereo the length ,of the bushings being equal tothe width of the links, the pins of said first named links extendingthrough the bushings of said second named links, these links beingaltemately arranged end to end by passing the pins of one link throughthe bushings of the other to constitute a chain; certain other linkmembers, to be referred to further on, are embodied in the chainconstruction, but it is sufiicient for the present purpose to state thatthe link elementsbein constructed as above described, it would 0 viouslybe impossible to separate the chain at any point without driving out onepin and one bushing.

The object of the resent invention is to provide means for e ecting theseparation of a chain of the above described type at some point in thelength thereof conveniently and quickly, and without the use of specialtools.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which;-

Figure 1 is a sectional plan view of a part of a chain of the type abovereferred to, the plane of the section being substantially on the axis ofthe pivot-pins, certain parts thereof embodying the invention beingshown in separated relation to the chain. Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe complete chain showing that side thereof to which the retaining clipis attached to the pivot-pins. Fig. 3 is a side elevation like Fig. 2which shows the retaining clip in another osition manner of itsapplication to or removal from the endsof the pivot:

p The chain to which the application of this invention is necessary toeasily eifect its so aration at some point thereof is made up ofpivot'ally united link elements one of which consists of the side-platesa which are oppositely disposed and connected together by )ins bwinch-arc non-rotatably secured in t c side-plates a near the ends ofthe lattcr, this noi'i-rotatable connection being attained by flatteningone side of that portion of the pins that extends through the plates,said flattened portion being indicated by c. The second link clementconsists of the side plates (Z oppositely disposed one to the other andhaving bushings c therein extending through the plates at or near theends thereof and being non-rotatably secured in said sideplatcs. 'lhcsctwo link elements are connectcd together end to end in overlappingrelation, as shown in Fig. l pariicularly,- that one of the linksconsisting of the sideplates (Z and the bushings a fitting in betwcenthe two side-plates a of the other link with the pins 7) of said otherlink extendiin through said bushing, the pins (2 being pref crablyheaded over to secure them in the side-plates.

A glance at this construction, as illustrated in Fig. 1. will makeapparent the difficulty of se arating a chain so constructed, and asstate to overcome this difliculty, is the object of the presentinvention. complished by means of a removable link comprising theside-plates a and the pins 7) shown in Fig. 1 as separated from the restof the chain, the 0nd in one of said plates permanently, means beingprovided for romovably securing the other side-plate a to the oppositeend of said pins, and in the provision of means to secure the bushing 6through which the pin 1) extends to one of the pins above referred to,to the end that when said side-plate a is removed from the chain one pin6 will be withdrawn with it from a bushing 6 while the bushing throughwhich the other pin extends will be secured to it in a manner to effectthe withdrawal of the bushing with the pin, as it is only b thewithdrawal of one of the bushings that a separation of the variouselements com rised in the two links can be effected. All of thebushings, except the one which is withdrawn from the chain on the pin 6just described, are nonrotatably secured in the side-plates d, thebushing which is withdrawn with the pin 1) however is removably fittedinto the plate d,

pins being secured by one and said bushing may besecured to thepin b inany suitable manner which will not obstruct its free rotation thereon. Adesirable manner of securing the bushing on the pin is shown in Fig. 1,and it consists in fitting a thin washer f over the end of the pintightly, which washer will bear against the end of the bushing to retainthe same in proper osition on the pin. Preferably, the end of t ebushing is counterbored, as shown at g, to receive the washer.

In the drawings, all of the bushings e have been shown as made in twoparts, each of which extends from one of the side-plates to thelongitudinal center line of the chain. This feature, however, has norelation to this invention and the bushing may be made either as shownherein or as consisting of one piece extendin from one side-plate to theother, as desire When that portion of the link shown in Fig. 1 is placedback in position in the chain, the free ends of .the two pins 6 willextend beyond the outer surface of the plates (1 far enough to ermitmediately under the removable side-p ate a, shown in Fig. 1, and stillleave room on the ends of the pin for the application of a retainingclip, such as is shown in section immediatel under the removableside-plate a. Fig. 1, t is clip being indicated as a whole by h. Theclip is also shown in a locked position on the pins 6 in Fig. 2, and inunlocked position'in Fig. 3.

Any ty e of a lockin clip or retaining clip may e used instea of the oneshown, for the invention does not require the ap plication of anyparticular t pe of clip to make it operative, it being on y necessary touse a device which shall retain the removable plate a in position afterit has been applied to the free end of the pins (1 of the re movablelink.

The retaining link shown herein comprises one member m which is forkedat one end to enter a circumferential oove 0 in one of the pins, theother end 0 said member having an opening p adapted to sli over the topof the other removable pin thereby locking in position a second forkedmember 9 pivotally connected to the member m at 1", this forked member qfitting a groove 0 in the other in 'd in the same manner as thatdescribe in connection with the member m.

To supplement the side-plates a and the side-plates d of the two linksof the chain,

p10 ed which are substantiall coextensive wit the plates a and 11, theseink members being preferably arran in alternate relas tion one to theother; is at is the link members abem fitted over the bushings throu hwhich bot "of the pins of the same'si eplates a extend; whereas, thelink members t, alternating with the members a and extending in oppositedirections thereto, fit over the bushings throu h which the adjacentpins of separate dinks extend. In other words, we may assume that thesideplates a and the pins b constitute one link element, and theside-plates d and the bushings e coristitutelinkelements which con necttogether the others and the link members s and t are so distributed asto be equally divided between the links which comprise the side-plates aand the links which comprise the side-plates d.

What I claim, is

A drive-chain consisting of links comprising oppositely disposedside-plates and nonrotatable pins extending throu h the sideplates nearthe ends thereof, an other links comprising oppositely disposedside-plates and non-rotatable bushings extending through the lates nearthe ends thereof, a pin of one 0 said links extending through a bushingof the other link to constitute a chain, one of the side-plates havingthe pins secured therein, being separable from its opposite side-plate,and one of the bushin of the other link being secured to one of t e pinsin said separable plate whereby the re- WARREN J. B'ELCHER.

Witnesses:

K. I. CLEMONS, HARRY W. BOWEN.

-a number of link members a and t are em -moval of said plate willwithdraw one

